Bar seating as well as table seating available in the Shoreditch branch

Where: Covent Garden and Old Street/Shoreditch

Good For: Korean small plates and street food

First three words which comes to mind: Korean Fried Chicken!!!

Needless to say, I love Asian food. And when it comes to good Korean food in London, I can only think of a few places, and On the Bab is one of them! Good sized food, friendly staff and mouth-watering fried chicken all adds to the charm of the place.

What our full table looks like:

Things to order:

Korean Fried Chicken – You are not having the full Korean experience without having some of these bad-boys! They come in 4 different flavours in Covent Garden (2 in Shoreditch) but I can vouch that the Soy Ginger flavour is really good! (Sweet spicy flavour available for those who likes a bit of a kick!)

Soy Ginger Korean Fried Chicken

Pa Jeon (Korean Seafood Pancake)– These are small dishes to share as starters, so don’t be surprised with the size of the dish! I love these pancakes as they are so tasty especially with the sweet soy dipping sauce. There is also Kimchi Jeon (Kimchi pancake) if you want to try something different.

Pa Jeon – Korean Seafood Pancake with sweet soy dipping sauce

Bibimbab and Kimchi Bokeum Bab (Rice dishes)– One of the most traditional dishes in Korean food is the Bibimbab, which is rice with meat and mixed vegetables, served in either a metal bowl or more traditionally, in a hot stone bowl. (Fun fact: The word Bibimbab literally means mixed rice.) The boyfriend loves to get the Bibimbab here while I opt for the more modern dish, Kimchi Bokeum Bab, which is the Korean style fried rice topped with a fried egg. I also like the fact that the fried rice comes with some salad, which gives me the impression of not having so much carbs (although the salad is doused with dressing, which you may be able to tell them to remove or put aside, if you are more health-conscious than me!)

Bulgogi Beef Bibimbab

Kimchi Bokeum Bab

How much we paid:

All in all, we spent £47 on a meal for 2 people (we had a mango juice each as drink), although we did have some spare fried chickens to take away. We were too ambitious – or hungry- when ordering a medium sized (12 pieces) fried chicken dish. In hindsight, we could easily have been satisfied with the small (5 pieces) dish at half the price.

Average costs : £20 per person will get you a starter and small fried chicken to share, a main meal and a drink (non-alcoholic: tea/juice/soft drink) each.

Verdict: Great Korean food fix with mouth-watering fried chicken!

To note: The restaurant can get very busy at peak lunch/dinner time so be sure to go there early or be prepared to wait in queue for a table!

Know any good food places to recommend? Let me know in a comment – I can’t wait to try!